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When it comes to baserunning, Gibson by the book

When it comes to baserunning, Gibson by the book

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By Paul Hagen
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MLB.com |

PHILADELPHIA -- With one out and the score tied in the bottom of the eighth inning on Friday night, the Phillies' Domonic Brown singled. Then, with Carlos Ruiz at the plate, Brown was thrown out trying to steal.

The D-backs were surprised to see Brown take off. Manager Kirk Gibson has charts that show steals, caught stealing, hit-and-runs and pitches fouled off with a runner in motion and the situations for all teams.

"It's all in my book right here: 0-0, 1-0. It doesn't mean you're going to pitch out. I don't pitch out a lot. But you might want to change the pitch you're going to throw," Gibson said.

Earlier in the game, Aaron Hill was caught stealing when Matt Davidson missed a hit-and-run sign.

That, too, goes on the list.

"Why do I look at that? Because the other manager looks at it," Gibson said. "It's not like we've been rolling a lot of runs on the board. You try to get aggressive at times. This sheet right here is all our running stuff. Early this year we were pretty good, and lately we haven't been very good at it."

Paul Hagen is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.